Evidence of Ritual in Judea in King David's Time

Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced, Tuesday the discovery of objects that shed light, for the first time, on how ritual was organized in Judah at the time of King David. Garfinkel and colleagues uncovered rich assemblages of pottery, stone and metal tools, and many art and ritual objects during recent archaeological excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified city in Judea adjacent to the Valley of Elah, about 30 kilometers/19 miles south of Jerusalem. These include three large rooms that served as ritual shrines, which in their architecture and finds correspond to the biblical description of ritual at the time of King David.

According to Prof. Garfinkel, “This is the first time that archaeologists uncovered a fortified city in Judah from the time of King David. Even in Jerusalem we do not have a clear fortified city from his period. Thus, various suggestions that completely deny the biblical tradition regarding King David and argue that he was a mythological figure, or just a leader of a small tribe, are now shown to be wrong.”